410. Of scars, choices and a little flame

Cassandra Pendragon

I clapped my hands when Sarai and Ahri, tired of me staring into nothingness, soared into the sky. The humans, of course, jumped in fright. The scent of fear wafted up, almost as if someone had squashed a lemon, and to make matters worse the four girls immediately prostrated themselves on the ground again. Even Constantine looked like someone had just walked over his grave. In hindsight it wasn't much of a surprise. Even though we had known each other in the past he had never seen me use my magic. A few punches had always been more than enough to deal with a few overzealous Roman soldiers and I hadn't delivered my threats to him in person. He had only found a bloody message in his throne room.

"You owe an apology and then you have a choice to make," I began in Chinese, my gaze roaming over the quivering heaps of blue, mud stained silk to Constantine's frozen expression. With a sideways glance at Reia and her friend I continued: "I know you aren't responsible for her fate, she has told my sister as much," and I had listened in, but I wasn't going to explicate that point, "but you still treated her like a dog. Go on, mighty emperor, let's see you grovel." A tiny spark of defiance ignited in his eyes and he inadvertently looked at the girl who had incited him to attack. His thoughts were practically written all over his face: I have to bow, even though she was as much at fault? Yes, my dear, the beauty of leadership. There was only a single person to gain the glory, but there was also only a single neck to wring when things went south.

"It's fine," a timid, sweet voice interrupted from the side. When I turned I saw a gangly, underfed girl walking towards me with insecure steps, Reia in tow. With a bit of time and especially food she'd become a real head turner but right now she looked like a drowning bird, disheveled and frightened. She also smelled like one. "They didn't hurt me. I don't need an apology. Please, there's no need to fight." Oh boy. A veritable saint.

"Maybe not, but you deserve one," I replied pensively while Lilith landed on my shoulder in a huff. Being ignored didn't sit well with her, especially since she had been dying to tell her story ever since I had woken up. "And he needs to learn that people aren't things to do with as he pleases. As for his heroic harem… get up and face me. I've never understood why you would voluntarily kiss the dirt when the milk has already been spilled. Do you think I won't dare to touch you, only because you're kowtowing before me?" They raised their heads and slowly got their feet, their eyes darting from one to the other looking desperately for any sort of hint as to how they should behave. Unfortunately Constantine was still busy lamenting his most recent decisions and wasn't of much help, muttering silently under his breath. After a rather uncomfortable moment of silence, Ms. White, the very same who had arrogantly thought that sticking a few swords in me would make a lick of a difference, finally found her courage, her smouldering, almost black eyes quivering as they roamed over my body. A faint blush rose to her alabaster… in the name of cultural propriety let's stick with jade like cheeks. Whether she was embarrassed facing me in all my naked glory or agitated because she was actually afraid I couldn't tell. The girls were much to disciplined to betray what was going through their minds and I didn't intend to pry.

"No," she replied, her voice soft but chilly like the first snow in the forest, "but we've been taught to show respect to our elders and whatever you are, your prowess is beyond questioning." As a quick explanation: age was used mostly to indicate seniority or skill, not the actual years someone had lived. Not that it mattered. In either regard they were barely cubs in my eyes.

"I'm sure you'd give quite a lot to have had that particular epiphany before you've decided to turn me into a skewer. Ironically that's the least of your problems. If I hadn't been prepared to get hurt I wouldn't have allowed you to get near me. No… to be frank you're in deep shit, but it has nothing to do with me. I might even be persuaded to help you out, depending on how your fearless leader decides to comport himself right about now."

"Duly noted. Amor fati." Sorry to interrupt again, but since Latin isn't part of most curricula anymore amor fati means love your fate. A modern translation would be what will be will be and there's no point nagging. I didn't agree, but I knew where Constantine was coming from. 

With the rustling of silk he hobbled across the clearing, fell to his knees in front of the little slave girl and lowered his head, his arms crossed in front of his chest in a perfect imitation of a puppet ruler's greeting for the most illustrious Roman Emperor Constantinus. Oh my, how times had changed. If she had been similar to how he had been on Earth in any way, shape or form her next words would have been: throw him to the beasts. Luckily she wasn't. She was an honest to god sweetheart, who was about as self assured as a mouse in front of a lion. It was a goddamn miracle that she wasn't running away, considering how nervous she seemed.

"I've wronged you," he continued solemnly. "I shouldn't have judged without listening. That is my mistake and mine alone and I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" Maybe I should introduce him to Arthur one of these days. The two would get along splendidly, like two crowned peas on a throne.

"I…," she began tremblingly, her hand inadvertently reaching for Reia's, which I chose to ignore. For now. "Of course. Please, get up. I… it's also my fault. I shouldn't have taken your belongings, but I thought… I was scared. My master would never have willingly shared his provisions with me and even asking would have earned me a day with the dogs. I didn't touch the contents of the satchel. You can have it back." No, he really couldn't. Let's call it… an advocate's fee.

Still kneeling Constantine raised his head and found her gaze: "your words show your grace. I'm honoured that you'd be willing to let it go." With a fluid motion he got to his feet and smiled. "I'm from the Hu family and my given name is Yichen, but I guess you can call me Constantine. It's a name I've carried in the past." With a sidelong glance at me he added: "but since the past has come back to life it seems appropriate to dust it off. Satisfied?" I shook my head.

"She's hungry and garbed in rags. Feed her and dress her. Then I'll be willing to call it even." He bit his lower lip and switched back to Latin:

"I don't know what happened, but our artefacts are gone. Our storage rings as well." Really now?

"Pray tell, where did your girls take their second swords from, then," I blabbered, my curiosity getting the better of me. To my surprise he blushed.

"Those were plain steel weapons, cleverly crafted to be worn as belts when not in use, but they hardly deserved the name sword. With our real weapons you wouldn't have been able to close your wounds so effortlessly." I laughed at that. Unless they had been forged by an immortal I highly doubted it. Even then… well, Gabriel had driven Reia's fans, which contained her trident, through my heart more than once and I hadn't flinched.

"If you say so. Fine, in that case the first few coins you're going to earn will go to her. What was it, back then? 100 Denari for a life, 20 for a limb? You owe her twenty gold coins, until then you're her debtor. By your own laws. We can skip the branding part. I don't want to dirty my hands further than I have to."

"How… magnanimous," he pressed out through gritted teeth. In Chinese he continued, much more amicably: "even without the devil playing advocate I should have offered compensation." With a jerk of the head in my direction he explained: "she wants me to offer you gold but I don't think that's wise. Tell me child, which path do you follow?" She… Lamia. Lamia was her name. Sorry for snooping, Reia. Lamia blinked and averted her eyes in shame.

"My master didn't allow me to follow the trail of my magic after my parents died and his seal has closed my meridians. I'm… I'm…" She choked and the salty smell of tears hit me. I reached for her, but before I could move Reia had wrapped her tails around her and pulled her to her side. While her arms snaked around Lamia's thin shoulders, her eyes found mine. She didn't have to ask, the question was clear enough: Can you help? I smiled genuinely. Of course I could.

I swiftly took a handful of steps and lowered my body until I was on eye level with the young… phoenix. Lilith had called her a phoenix. The very moment I recalled the conversation I had eavesdropped on I even smelled the faint echo of an eternal flame, hiding behind her acquired odour. Perfect. Whatever ailed her, if I wouldn't be able to help, Sarai would. With the gentlest of touches I made her face me, a warm, silver flame dancing in my gaze. A magical seal was suppressing the flow of energy within her, cutting her mind off from her arcane reservoirs. A seal cast by a mere human with moderate aptitude and no safeguards. I grinned.

"Shatter," I breathed almost languidly, the barest hint of power thrumming in my voice, but it was more than enough. The shadow of blood red chains was pressed against the inside of her skin around her neck for the tiniest fraction of a moment before it crumbled into silver sparks. I inhaled and the faint taste of stardust tickled my throat. Then it was over, long before anyone had even realised what I had done.

I leaned back on my haunches and studied Lamia's expression as her body started working like it was supposed to for the first time in years. At first she had been mesmerised, lost in my burning gaze. When the magic abated she blinked and blushed… and then she froze as a myriad of sensations she had almost forgotten assaulted her. 

Her nostrils flared, her legs trembled, but with Reia support she remained steady. A single flame, as dark as I had ever seen, burned a hole through her worn out mockery of a shirt just above her heart. A terrified hiss sounded from my right, followed by a Chinese exclamation:

"May the Ancestors protect us! The shadow flame of Lung Tian!" Which could have been a name or an actual description, meaning heavenly dragon. Not that it mattered either way. With a frown I extended my hand and allowed the flame to touch my skin. Nothing happened of course, but I gained a vague idea of what I was dealing with.

"That can't be good," I murmured, unfortunately still in Chinese, which elicited a strange squawk from the girl in front of and a nervous cough from the erstwhile emperor beside me.

"Common tongue, please," Reia immediately huffed. "What's wrong?"

"Your sister is watching a blighted flame for the first time in this life of hers," Lilith answered mockingly in my stead, "and apparently she isn't enamoured." Blighted flame… a distant memory stirred in the back of my mind. The blighted… the offspring of a divine beast and a far less powerful creature. Sex between different species wasn't an issue, usually. If a dragon was to fall for a penguin it would still pose some logistic challenges but the deed itself wouldn't be a problem. Getting pregnant on the other hand… for conception to happen the parents had to be somewhat compatible. Remember the hoops Viyara's father had been forced to jump through? Unfortunately, judging from what I had seen and heard Lamia's father had been a mere human. 

Impregnating a phoenix would have taken a heavy toll on him and if his magic had been too weak it wouldn't have happened at all, unless he had taken the strength from somewhere else. The potential of the forming embryo. When that happened the child would change, it'd become blighted. Think of it as a wound, but since the creature in question was still forming it didn't scar over or heal, it became a part of the unborn cub. As a result its magic, its power would change, turned into something ravenous that wouldn't stop until it filled the gaping hole, which was an integral part of its existence. An unending, viscous circle without a chance of breaking free. Normally. Luckily the… rules didn't matter as much to an immortal, never mind several. Come to think of luck and happy endings, Lamia's mother was a phoenix. In some shape or form she had to still be around, even if she was only an egg waiting to hatch again.

"Shit," Lilith added while she was gradually gliding away from me, her voice filled with curiosity and exasperation in equal measure. "I'm only going to say this once." Her next words were uttered in the demonic language, a tongue none of the people present but me could understand. It didn't matter, though, the power of the syllables was more than enough to convey her meaning: "if you value your life, you'll get away from them. Right now. Not you, Reia. You're an immortal, you'll be fine. And you should watch. If I'm not mistaken the girl will sooner or later become your responsibility, if she hasn't already." A flurry of hobbling steps reverberated in my ears, but I didn't care much, my concentration was focused on the wide eyed face in front of me and my sister's tails, which were gradually snaking up my legs. 

"You heard her," I said in Chinese, while I allowed Reia to share in our conversation through my senses, "she's making it sound like I'm about to turn you into a light show, but I'm really not. Not unless you want me to. Look, I'm sure nobody has to tell you that your magic is strange… different, dangerous. That's because you've been injured long before you were even born. Long story short I can do something about it… if you want me to."

"Where's the catch," Reia asked in her stead, while Lamia was still deciding whether or not to call it a day and simply bolt. Poor girl, going from a lonely slave to the… for the sake of my peace of mind let's stick with friend of a newly born immortal and being thrust into the insanity it entailed was terrifying on the best of days. Judging from the barely dried up tears on her cheeks she hadn't exactly experienced the time of her life, though, before her world had been turned upside down.

"The same as usual. It's going to hurt and once I begin there's no turning back. If you want a way out we'll have to wait for Sarai. My magic doesn't work in increments." Despite herself Lamia's pride stirred:

"I… I'm not afraid of pain," she insisted in a low, trembling voice that might have made a mosquito take her seriously. If I was being generous. I still smiled indulgently.

"I know. Leading the life of a slave whilst keeping your kindness alive… I know you're strong. But on the other hand…" I shrugged and gently moved my wings to empathise my point: "you've never been exposed to the kind of power it's going to take to make you whole." Her next words made me frown, because they were directed at Reia. Oh boy, me and the newly minted angel would have to sit down for the talk about the birds and the bees soon. Really soon.

"What would you do," she whispered, while she inadvertently reached out for one of Reia's silky tails and started combing through the arctic blue fur frantically.

"I'm the wrong person to ask," the vixen replied quietly but with genuine warmth. "I've pretty much spent the last months of my life trying to get her to do something similar to me." Liar, liar, pants on fire… what she had wanted me to do… what she had forced me to do had been a million times more dangerous… and stupid. "I'd jump at the chance, but she's my sister. I trust her. Unequivocally. And you've barely met her. She's not going anywhere, though. Why not wait a while until you've had a chance to make up your mind." I could only sigh before I explained:

"Because she doesn't have the time. Her magic was sealed. Now it is free and it's… hungry."